Tracy Wilcox / THE GAINESVILLE SUN - AP

Florida's Joakim Noah, center, and teammates Corey Brewer, left, and Al Horford tell Gators fans celebrating the team's recent national championship that they'll return to play next season.

There cannot be a discussion of top teams anymore — not after George Mason’s run — without mentioning a team from one of the non-BCS leagues.

Hofstra, which beat Mason twice this season, has its top three scorers returning and will be the favorite in the Colonial Athletic Association. No threat of anyone jumping to the NBA, which is also a pretty good reason a top-shelf coach like Tom Pecora turned down Seton Hall.

Brace yourself. The payoff for Mason’s run to the Final Four is that a CAA team, Hofstra, could start the season in the Top 25.

Southern Illinois has its top eight players back from a team that won 22 games and was an 11-seed in the NCAA Tournament. It could be the class of the Missouri Valley Conference, though Creighton and Wichita State have made themselves consistent Valley contenders.

In the SEC, Alabama should rule the West with Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky in charge in the East. Once again, the league is taking an NBA hit, but that happened last spring, too, and did not prevent the SEC from getting two teams in the Final Four.

The Crimson Tide returns point guard Ronald Steele and 6-10 Jermareo Davidson. They also have 6-8 forward Richard Hendrix back for a solid front line.

In the Big East, Georgetown could loom as a preseason favorite, along with Pitt, which played a lot of young players. UConn will be decimated by the NBA draft — losing its top six — but how do you leave the Huskies out of the mix?

They get back guard A.J. Price and return guard Craig Austrie, along with bruising rebounder Jeff Adrien. It will be a smaller, faster team that will handle the ball better and play better defense out front. Even without a big man — Andrew Bynum went pro last year — the Huskies are going to be formidable, as usual.

Villanova will get forward Curtis Sumpter back from injury, but there seems to be a question whether Kyle Lowery will return. How can he try the NBA without a jump shot?

Although North Carolina will be the class of the ACC, how do you rule out Duke? Forward Josh McRoberts is All-American caliber. Georgia Tech should get itself together with freshman Thaddeus Young, who is rated the third best high school player in the country.

UCLA is going to be everybody’s favorite in the Pac-10, but  Washington, even without Brandon Roy, is going to be a nice team, especially with a recruiting class that is ranked among the Top 10.

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